I have to agree with Jay, to an extent. I don't believe Suts will be left out of the lineup. I think the rotating forwards will be Brash, Clymer and Bradley. I do believe that Laich will spend a lot of time in Chocolate land this year or could even be dealt along with Clymer.

Father Alexander Ovechkin, Mikhail Ovechkin, which is based in Washington, commented on the situation with the contract his son (winning the case are his parents).

"If you think that Sasha deserves even more than Crosby (8.7 million dollars a year)," said a senior Ovechkin- in an interview published "Sport Express". - For whom would Crosby, Hit it in such a command, as "Washington"? Yes anyone! .. It is a pity that the team is silent. Care would not like us in Washington love: a city good, quiet, calm, not complain at that. Scary thought that could instead be in a hole somewhere. But if Sasha normal proposal does not receive, then, of course, the options will be moving to another team. He also did not come here to develop hockey, and earn money. "

Remember that the summer Alexander Ovechkin will be restricted free agent and will be able to begin negotiations to move to another club.

Saw my first practice at Kettler. The facility is amazing. A totally different vibe than the "minor league" facility in Odenton. Very nicely done, and the fire alarm is very well engineered!
I agree that the Nylander/Backstrom/Semin line looked great. I also thought Chris Bourque looked like he belongs, as does Dave Steckel. Should make for a very interesting next week or so.
OV-Kozlov-Flash
Semin-Nylander-Backstrom
Petty-Gordon-Clark
Bourqe/Steckel?-Suts-Bradley/Brashear
Morrison-Poti
Schultz-Pothier
Eminger/Green?-Erskine
---Green/Emmy tossup
I'm sure many of you will think I'm full of it.
Tarik - Where did OV go the second half of practice? Media stuff?

Tarik, any idea on the market for any of the players they might consider trading? I'm sure GMGM is working the phones, but it seems weird to think they would be able to move one of their lower-tier players whenever they wanted. If so, who in your opinion is most likely to go?

GMGM has made a lot of good moves in recent years, but I bet he regrets the multiyear he signed Clymer to most of all. I think what we're seeing is a natural progression of the skilled players ousting the not so skilled. You've got to like guys like Brads, Laich, Suts who have busted ass but are simply redundant in the grand scheme of things.

Everyone calm down about the Daddy OV interview. Yes, that's probably what he said. That's what "agents" do, create pressure on teams to fork over big contracts for their clients. So what? The Caps have the rights to OV until he is 27, which means they can match any other team's offer until then. The deal will probably get done, but not any time soon. I think OV wants to see major signs of improvement if he is to stay. I think he values winning as much as the Crosby-type contract.

Hey TJ, there is no "soviet press" anymore.
Also you can't compare a qoute of Mikhail Ovechkin with an anonymous report that doesn't have a single quote and doesn't name time and place of the incident. To me it's not at all unlikely that father Ovechkin said what is reported, after all, why wouldn't he? If the right offer is not made or matched, Ovechkin (and Semin) will move on, everbody knows that.

SabreHater has it right. Ovechkin is going to be here for a minimum of five more years, guaranteed. And stories like this are hardly uncommon during the negotiation process.

BTW, how about the story about Semin's serious knee injury, the one that was going to keep him from starting the season and that he refused to get surgery on even though the Caps demanded that he get it? That one came complete with quotations from named sources.